Sanchez makes his college choice

After going back and forth the last two weeks while trying to pick from among national powerhouses Ohio State, Texas and USC, Mission Viejo (calif.)quarterback Mark Sanchez has made his college choice. Sanchez made his commitment at the Nike 7 on 7 Passing Championships on Saturday and just finished telling the others schools of his choice.

“I’m a Trojan,” Sanchez told StudentSports.com earlier Saturday. “It was one of the toughest decisions of my life. Just a few weeks ago, I was pretty down to Texas and Ohio State but USC really opened my eyes when I went down there to meet with Coach Carroll and then Coach Chow last week. All three are great schools and I knew I couldn’t make a bad decision but after analyzing everything, I just felt USC was the best place for me.

“I took out a big white grease board and rated all three schools in a number of factors that were important. In some areas, Texas was No. 1, others it was Ohio State and others it was USC. All three were really close. Probably the biggest eye opener for me was when my older brother asked me what my ultimate goal is in football. I said I want to play on Sundays and he asked me who gave me the best opportunity to do that. I immediately felt that was USC. With the offensive system they have, the receivers they’re recruiting, Coach Chow in the fold and the success they have had recently at the quarterback position, USC just stood out the most to me.

“I know they have a lot of quarterbacks but I’m not afraid to compete and Ohio State and Texas are big time programs as well and they’ll always have quality quarterbacks in the program just like USC. USC being the local school was not really a factor at all. Distance didn’t play a role, I had no problem leaving home. I just felt USC was the best overall fit for me. I love Coach Chow but more importantly, I love USC. If Coach Chow leaves, I know Coach Carroll will still always be there and he’s not going to bring in some guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing. They’re going to run the same system as long as Carroll is there and that’s a big deal to me.”

After Mission Viejo played their first game in the tournament, which was actually on the campus of USC, Sanchez and his father walked over to Heritage Hall to place a phone call to both Coach Carroll and Coach Chow.

“They were really excited,” Sanchez said. “It feels good to get this out of the way and I now I can just focus on our season. We have a tough schedule with Los Alamitos, Long Beach Poly and of course De La Salle and I didn’t want any distractions.”

Mission Viejo went on to win the passing tournament and Sanchez showed why he has to be considered the nation’s best pure pocket passer. He does everything well and has great arm strength, is incredibly accurate and is so advanced at reading a defense, going through his progressions and finding his second and third options. Sanchez will be competing in the upcoming EA SPORTS Elite 11 Quarterback camp next Wednesday and StudentSports.com will be the place for all the camp info.

Quarterbacks Rob Schoenhoft and Jonathan Garner will both be making their college announcements the first two days of the camp so it should be an exciting week ahead.